Los Angeles lifts air-quality limits for cremations as Covid doubles death rate

Environmental regulators alter rules as 2,700 bodies are stored at hospitals and coroner's office

Air quality regulators have lifted the limits on the number of cremations that can be performed in Los Angeles county, citing a death rate that is more than double the pre-pandemic norm and an unmanageable backlog of dead bodies.

More than 2,700 bodies were being stored at local hospitals and the county coroner's office as of Friday 15 January, the South Coast air quality management district said on Sunday in explaining its decision to enact an executive order suspending limits on cremations.